Anyone make your own sauerkraut?
 

Just curious. I grew up eating sauerkraut, but it was always store bought. The missus and her family had, I think never had it until I made it. I'm not sure that the kids are fans, but they are out of the house so that's ok. For whatever reason the missus decided she wanted to try making it from scratch. I think it's for health reasons, like eating yogurt and other pro-biotic foods.

We are starting small with a quart jar and red cabbage. I've never had it with red cabbage before. I'm looking forward to some experimentation. I like sauerkraut.

Any thoughts, gotchas, interesting/funny stories or preferred methods or recipes?

Never made it from scratch. Red cabbage sauerkraut is known as 'blaukraut" in Germany and is very good. The recipe I use is the way it is done in Germany and is waaay better than how most people prepare it.

Sautee one whole onion until translucent, dump jar of sauerkraut in pot. Add one sliced apple and add Knorr chicken bullion to taste. Bring to a boil and let simmer 1 1/2 hours.

You can do the onion/ apple thing for your scratch blaukraut also, maybe skip the Knorr which is high in sodium.

Also, the German cure for constipation is to drink some sauerkraut juice. These pipes are clean!

I did once a long time ago. I made a 1 1/2 gallon crock full of it. It took a long time for it to ferment and was OK, but a little sauerkraut goes a long way. I never bothered making it again because it was so much work for something I only ate a small amount of. I never thought of trying to make a quart of it at a time.

Cool, I didn't know that.

Interesting since traditionally sauerkraut is supposed to be fermented cabbage not cooked cabbage, but that sounds like it would taste fairly similar and tasty.

Yeah, that's something we'll try. Thanks

Yeah, no schit, sometimes it's a cure looking for a problem. I don't generally have that sort of problem, but a heaping helping of sauerkraut often has the same result. Very, VERY clean pipes. I've never had a colonoscopy, but I think that would be a good prep for one based on what I've heard.

My wife makes it all the time. She does it for her brother and a lot of other people. I don't like it or the smell, but everyone else seems to love it and can't wait for her to make more. Very simple to make.

My family made it when I was growing up on our farm. The way we did it was very easy. The tools were a large stone crock pot like you buy at an antique store and a big guillotine-style cabbage shredder. A cabbage shredder looks like an old washboard except it has blades where the washboard ridges would be.

You pour a layer of salt in the bottom of the crock and shred a layer of cabbage on top of the salt until you have the salt covered a few inches deep. Then you put another layer of salt, cabbage, etc., until the crock is full. Then you take a wooden lid that will fit inside the crock pot and press on the cabbage. You weigh the lid down with heavy weights. A big rock will do. You stick it on your back porch and wait until it's vile enough that you know its done. I can't remember how it tasted compared to the store-bought stuff, but I remember eating it for years without complaint, so it must have been fine.

Blaukraut <> Sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is only made with white cabbage. Blaukraut is made from fresh red cabbage, not fermented.

I have not made it myself but my family used to when I was a kid and it was exactly done as MRM describes. I would recommend a larger quantity than a quart. Also be careful with sealed containers, there is fermentation, so you will potentially break stuff unless it is open to air.

What is gained by DIY unless you grow your own cabbage and need to preserve it? I buy mine at the Eastern Euro stores, favorite brand is Zergut and also Hengstenberg.

G

How do you make a sauerkraut? You ding the door of his Mercedes and don't leave note.

I'll be here all weeks folks.......

I love sauerkraut. Also, the Japanese make some delicious pickled cucumbers, squash, watermelon rind, etc. The contrasting flavors between sour, salty, and sweet are interesting.

The Koreans are also good. If it can be fermented, it has been done in Korea. I like the kimchi cabbage but also the sprouts.

G

I read an article a few years back about a family in Ohio. Apparently, the end of every summer they would take a bunch of cabbage and salt down to the barrel in the basement with the kid with the cleanest feet. They would chop/shred a layer of cabbage into the barrel, put the kid into the barrel and have them stomp the cabbage a bit, then add salt, lather, rinse repeat until the barrel was full. They would then cover with a damp cloth and put a weighted board on top fo the cloth. They just had to keep the cloth damp. It acted as a one-way valve allowing the gasses out but nothing in. I guess it was fermenting all winter and gave them sauerkraut all winter. I thought it was an interesting story.

I was at a shawarma place, and they had some sort of bright pink pickled radish. It was delicious.

interesting, good to know, thanks

Yep, the top of the jar is not sealed, but is covered. Air can get out.

I think the assumption is that homemade sauerkraut has bugs that are good for you, but the store bought stuff doesn't. Kind of like the current yogurt/activia craze.

I LOLed at that. Thanks.

I lived in Japan when I was younger, but I don't think I ever had much if any when I was there. I know that they do a lot of pickled veggie stuff.

I made it last year. It is good but, no really worth the trouble. The wife and I don't eat enough to justify the whole process, so I just buy it as needed. I am known for my pickles though ! I make lots of them of several different types. I wind up mailing them all over the U.S.

Hmm....I'm curious about those. Can you show some pictures?

When and where in Japan? I lived there from 80-82 at Camp Zama. Loved the Kimchi. (yes plenty of Korean restaurants there despite the less than fond felling between the two nationalities)

I'd like to get some recipes as well. I'm still trying to make a good garlic dill pickle. I've got a great Jamaican jerk pickle chip recipe, those babies are perfect in Bloody Marys. I sent some to Lubemaster, he can testify!SmileWavy

If I'm not mistaken, it's called Sukumono in Japan. There is an entire region that is known for perhaps hundreds of kinds of sukimono. They are as all Japanese dishes, complex and subtle. I think the word sukimono can also refer to a fanatical person or a nymphomaniac. Perhaps ask Wayne about this pickled food. He knows a few Japanese people :)


You know what is da bomb? The pickled jalapeno carrots and onions that you get at Mexican restaurants.

We were WAY up north. Dad was in the Navy and we were stationed in Misawa from '78-80 and again from 83-85.

Have you ever made your own Sauerkraut?


Not on purpose.

We really need to hang out more Craig!

I'll send you and Tweeze a few jars of this years batch. Just waiting for Persian cukes to come into season. Local Mex mart usually has them for 69 cents a pound, gonna make a huge batch, those things go fast (and are addicting)!SmileWavy

How did you like it? Just missed each other lol. I loved it! Graduated HS there. Was just one heck of a time and place to be young. Would love to go back. I am still in touch with my best friends from that time.

So.... ice sculpturs?

Yep, I absolutely loved Japan. I was 8-10 and 13-15 when I was there. I was glad to come back to the states to graduate though. I also would love to go back, but from what I understand it has changed A LOT!

Yep, we had a "snow festival" in the winter with ice sculptures on base. We also went to Sapporo to the big snow festival. That was pretty impressive, huge multistory sculptures with tunnels and slides.

I am sure you guys know this, but pickled foods are not fermented. Pickling cucumbers or peppers or onions is fun, but not the same as fermenting kraut! :)

The Crucial Difference Between Pickled and Fermented | The Healthy Home Economist | The Healthy Home Economist

G

SC is really basic to make. Cabbage, salt, and weighted down (some folks add a little sugar). It helps a lot if you do it in layers and massage it kinda like milking a cow (although I've never done that!). Lately I've been making Kimchee. Not much more effort and a whole lot better tasting. Vash sent me some Asian chili powder cause I couldn't find what I wanted up here. The wife likes it spicy so I up the heat, and store it in canning jars and in the fridge. Keeps a long time.

Rusnak,

Here is a photo of what I have left.

From left to right; Dill Chips, Spicy Dill spears (jalapeno & hungarian wax peppers), Garlic Dill Zickles (zucchini), and Garlic Dill Green Beans.

I also make Sweet/Hot, Bread & Butter, and a special order for my sister-in-law...Hot Bread & Butter.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1428771011.jpg

Vallarta Supermarket has Persian cucumbers on sale 2 lbs for a buck. Looks like I'll be pickling this weekend! Jerk chips and spicy garlic dill spears.

Both of those sound awesome Craig!

Those spicy dill look delicious!!! Do you sell em?

My mother makes these to a Hungarian recipe but when she makes it the fluid (vinegar?) is all the way to the top but I notice your jars have airspace in them. I asked her why and she said it is to help it keep longer. Is there a reason you do that?

You need to leave a bit of air in the top. After you place the cucumbers and spices in the jar, you fill it with hot vinegar/pickeling juice. You place on the lid and let the jar sit in simmering water for 10 min. You pull them out and let them cool and the air in top sucks down the lid creating a seal.

There's another component to the lid called a band (screw part) but it seems Skytrooper keeps them off. Some canners feel it's not needed.

I use the band during the initial canning process, but remove them after a couple days when I am sure I have a positive seal. The jars that I ship have the bands on them to ensure the lids stay on during transit.

As far as the fluid goes, I fill the to about 1/2 inch from the top. During the water bath the fluid will expand due to the boiling temperature, but will not boil past the seal on the lid (you don't want a wet sealing surface), just excess air will be expelled. As the contents cool, this contraction will draw down the lid to seal the jar with a nice dry seal that will last for years.

Not so sure changed that much. One of my best friends (1/2 Japanese on mom's side) has been back 2x in last couple years. He told me I would fit right in right away in Toyko. Some new buildings for sure but the people much the same. I'd specifically asked as wondered how much all the changes in media would affect the "politeness" factor etc...

So the first go round as a kid, did you get to go crazy in the sculptures with slides?

I can't show this to my wife. She wants to pickle every damn thing in the garden. Actually, she wants ME to pickle everything in the garden. She's already planning pickled asparagus and it will be two years before the bed I planted this year will produce. It does look tasty though.

Uh, oh. She snuck up on me while I was reading this. She wants your pickled green bean recipe.